Divers Survives 10 Hours at Sea
You'd think a trip to Cancun this time of year would be relaxing, but it was anything but enjoyable for a Sioux Falls man who was swept out to sea while scuba diving.
Don Roesler, who has almost 600 dives to his name, spent a terrifying 10 hours in the Gulf of Mexico struggling to swim against a strong current and giant waves. He even paddled his way through a thunderstorm.
Although, he did everything like he was suppose to do, Roesler credits his diving experience and a little luck for saving his life.
Two weeks ago, December 3rd, Don Roesler and other divers were exploring a sunken Navy ship off the coast of Cancun, when something went drastically wrong.
"Our dive plan was to go in the water and go directly down," said Roeseler.
Roesler had explored this ship dozens of times before, so he was familiar with the area.
But a powerful current, unlike anything he's ever experienced before, pulled Roesler out to sea...a half mile away from the other divers.
"I had been signaling them, the minute I got up, I tried my dive horn to signal them, but I was down wind and couldn't hear me," said Roseler.
Roesler inflated what's called a buoyancy compensator or B-C, which can double as a life jacket.
"The one I got is virtually like a raft, that's what kept me a float all day and all night," said Roesler. "By about noon, they had 10 boats, 80 people and four wave runners out looking for me."
But searchers were looking in the wrong area, and his situation was about to get worse.
"By 2:30 pm or 3:00 pm, I saw storms coming from Cancun out towards me and I had no idea if they were still looking for me."
His wife, Julie, didn't find out he was missing until after six hours had passed. She rented a helicopter to help with the search.
Roesler says he became extremely concerned when the helicopter flew by twice.
"I was waving right at them with my dive sausage, but they couldn't see me in the rain," said Roesler.
Day quickly turned into night. That's when Roesler told himself if he was going to survive this ordeal, he needed to keep a calm head.
"I put my BC back on strapped everything down real tight and by then I could see some lights about five or six miles away."
Those lights were coming from an island resort. That's where he was headed. Roesler used his mask to catch rain to drink so he wouldn't get dehydrated. But it was almost futile in the turbulent salt waters. Sharks were his other concern.
"Oh there were a couple of times I didn't think I was going to make it."
But at 8:00 pm, Roesler caught a break when he saw lights on an island.
"I could see the lights behind me so I kept kicking, two or three minutes that way I had something to gauge, before I was using my compass and with waters going around almost impossible to get a bearing, I was kicking this way and that way."
Exhausted, he continued paddling toward shore.
"I grabbed onto a rock and pulled myself up and I saw somebody right on the end resort of this island. I saw somebody on a wall and I yelled for help, two or three people jumped in and pulled me up," said Roesler.
Although in the water for ten hours, Roesler never suffered from hypothermia.
"I had gloves on, I wasn't cold and I had my dive suit on. I think the kicking and adrenalin and determination kept me warm."
Roesler suffered from dehydration, but other than that was okay. In fact, Roesler went diving two days later.
Roesler doesn't want his experience to scare others away from experiencing scuba diving. He calls it a fluke deal, but adds this advice for anyone thinking about taking up the hobby.
Have a dive plan and stick to it. Make sure you're equipment is in good working order. Always keep a calm head. Make sure you bring safety equipment, like ligths, horns and dive sausage.
KeloTV, 12-19-06
